Excursion 3

"There's been a change of plans in the mission."

"A change of plans?".

In a darkened room, an imposing man sitting at a desk had his black hair combed back and no eyebrows. He was talking to a figure covered in a dark cloak standing in front of him 

"Yes, you weren't supposed to participate initially, but it seems the higher-ups want to move things along a bit."

The man sitting at the desk handed a letter to the dark figure, The dark figure opened it and when he finished reading its contents, the letter burst into flames, turning it to ashes

"Arthur Reclesia?"

"Yes, I'm sure you know about the experiments we have been working on for some years now. Arthur Reclesia is the only specimen that has come out of the 'Rebirth' program alive; however, he has shown no signs of waking up. Your mission will be to get him to do so."

"And how will I do that?"

I asked the dark figure in a monotone manner.

"We believe that if we put him in a near-death situation, he might actually wake up, though it's just a theory."

"What if he doesn't make it?"

"If he doesn't make it?"

The man sitting at the desk answered the question in a disinterested manner as he leaned back into the back of his chair.

"Just kill him and bring his body back for investigation."

-Clank!

A quick thrust was deflected by the hairs of Arthur's sword, which quickly sought to create distance.

'Damn it!"

But the black figure would not allow him to do so and continued his ferocious attacks

-Clank! Clank! Clank!

Each attack was extremely fast and powerful, pushing Arthur to his limit.

'Fuck, who the hell is this guy!?'

In the novel, 3 demons appeared to attack the students, but this guy wasn't mentioned at all!

Did the plot change?Why did it change?Did I change something without realizing it?

-Clank!

Arthur's thoughts were interrupted by the powerful lunge that he barely managed to block, leaving his arm slightly numb

'Ack! That doesn't matter now; I've got to find a way out of this situation.'

I knew very well that I couldn't beat him, This guy was on a completely different level; he could kill me in just a few seconds without me even realizing it but he's holding back for some reason

-Clank! Clank! Clank!

The figure didn't cease his attacks and several cuts started to appear on Arthur's body, He was overwhelmed and used the Dragon Race to create distance.

"Huf...huf...huf...huf!"

Breathing heavily and with sweat running down his body, Arthur calmed his thoughts and analyzed his situation

"This guy isn't looking to kill me, at least not for now, so he has to be looking to get something, but what could it be?"

Delving into his mind to find the answer, Arthur remembered what the dark figure said before their confrontation.

'My name doesn't matter; you only need to know one thing: I won't stop until you wake 'it' up.'

"Wake 'it' up?"

After thinking for a few seconds, he came to a conclusion.

"It could be." 

-Clank!

His line of thought was cut off by a lunge that almost pierced his neck

"What are you thinking so hard about?"

The figure asked in his perpetual monotone.

"Concentrate or you'll be dead before you know it."

-Clank! Clank! Clank!

Thus followed another storm of attacks without Arthur being able to do anything. 

***

Elsewhere in the forest, the students were fighting fiercely against the demonic beasts, but they were already showing signs of fatigue from the prolonged battle.

-Slash Slash

Kein cut down some beasts while protecting Anisa, who was preparing a spell.

After a few seconds, a magic circle of blue appeared in front of Anisa, indicating that the spell was ready

"Chain lightning!"

Lightning shot out from the circle and struck one of the demonic beasts, then branched out, impacting the beasts near it.

This stunned them long enough for the students to kill them.

"Huf...huf...huf...huf"

Anisa was breathing heavily as she leaned on her knees.

"They're not done."

They had been fighting for several minutes now, They killed many beasts but the demon mage kept summoning them non-stop. Even with Miss Norma's intervention, they were being overwhelmed by the prolonged combat

"Grooow!"

A demonic beast lunged at Anisa as she was catching her breath, but before it could do any damage to her, Kein appeared and killed her with one hit

"Don't lose your concentration, we're in a battlefield right now; any carelessness could lead to your death!"

"Y-Yes! sorry!"

Kein, who was usually nice and calm, shouted, scolding Anisa for her carelessness, This surprised her but she knew he was doing it for her sake

"Damn, they don't end; even I'm starting to get tired."

Kein said as he looked around that no students died so far; some were seriously injured but were being healed by the mages who specialized in healing magic, but still everyone was tired and efficiency was rapidly declining

"We won't hold out much longer."

Kein bit his lip, feeling helpless. If only he were stronger, he could help Norma face that demonic witch, but he knew very well that he would only be a hindrance, All he could do now was hold on and wait for Norma to defeat that demon.

-Bom Bom Bom

"Hahahaha, come on, what's wrong, Didn't you say you didn't need your staff to defeat someone like me?"

She laughed at the demonic witch as she continued to cast spells towards Norma, who continued with her impassive expression. 

"Well, in that case."

The demonic witch suddenly stopped and a dark energy began to emanate from her body, Norma's expression changed for the first time and she rushed over to the students and erected a barrier

"Watch out!"

-Boom!

An explosion of black energy shook the students to their core, giving them an ominous feeling. The grass, trees and flowers inside the barrier began to wither and rot at an alarming rate

The demonic beasts, nourished by this sinister energy, increased in size and exuded an aura far more dangerous than before.

Neter or Demonic Energy 

This is the name given to the power used by the demons; if mana represents vitality, then the neter represents rottenness.

The nether of demons is fed and strengthened by death; the more a demon kills, the stronger he becomes, Demons are a power-hungry race, so most of the wars that have occurred throughout history were caused by them, with the goal of becoming stronger by massacring thousands of people.

"Ha, it's good to break free after such a long time."

Said the demonic witch, while appearing to be in a euphoric state, two obsidian black horns appeared on her head, coiling in a spiral shape backwards 

The demonic beasts enhanced by the neter expelled by the demonic witch rushed at the raised barrier, Norma, in an attempt to break it.

-Bom Bom Bom

Hitting it with all his might, the barrier shook and began to crack.

The students inside the barrier began to despair as they watched the barrier slowly give way

'I'll have to summon my staff.'

She didn't want to do it because it could be dangerous for the students, but seeing the situation now, she had no choice.

Raising his arm forward, the air began to drop incredibly low, generating a bit of frost across the ground and numbing the students from the cold

"Come, Fros-"

-Slash

But before she could finish her sentence, a knife stabbed her in the back.

With wide eyes, she turned her head to look at her attacker, and her surprise grew when she saw that it was a student who attacked her.

With a swift movement, she sent the student flying into a rotten tree and the next moment, chains made of mana immobilized him

"Miss Norma!"

The students shouted in concern as Norma fell to her knees on the ground.

"I can't gather my mana."

"Hahahahahahahaha!"

A maniacal laughter was heard coming from the demonic witch, who was looking at the whole situation with enjoyment

"Don't even try; that knife is an artifact that seals the target's mana. pretty nice, isn't it?"

This was the moment she was waiting for. When a mage summons his staff, he is vulnerable for a few seconds, but those few seconds were more than enough for the rat that they infiltrated to act

-Crack 

The demonic beasts continued to hit the barrier, cracking it more and more, The students at this point completely panicked.

"They're going to break the barrier!"

"I don't want to die!"

"S-save me!"

The demonic witch watched with great entertainment as the students were lost in despair.

-Crack!

After a few more hits, the barrier couldn't hold any longer and ended up giving way, leaving the students at the mercy of these ambient demonic beasts. When everyone thought they were going to die, something unexpected happened.

-Fush

"Grooow!"

A wall of golden flames rose up, automatically incinerating any demonic beast that tried to cross over

"Everyone stay calm!"

A voice echoed and all the students turned to look at the source.

Beatrice, who had a golden aura surrounding her, making her look like a divine figure, said with a steady gaze

"We won't get anywhere by lamenting, regroup and protect Miss Norma, those who know how to use healing magic tend to her wound; we can't get out of this situation without her help, the mages start preparing support spells; and the warriors who are still in good condition make a defensive formation!"

Following his words to the letter, the previously frightened and desperate students regained their composure by ordering themselves into a defensive position to protect Norma while her wound was being treated 

"Oh, you're the princess, aren't you?"

She asked the witch with an amused tone as she looked at Beatriz with a smile.

"Hahaha, that's funny. Okay, let's see how much they can take."

After saying that, a large number of demonic beasts appeared behind her.

"Shall we play~?"